This video was very inspiring.  It shows how anybody can do anything if they are inspired and committed.  I loved this video for so many reasons.

Analyzing this video as you would any textual story, cite examples of the following:

The setting of this video is a average school in a metro area. 

The video showed characterization when it introduced her as a deaf girl who really wanted to play the violin.  It showed that she is a very determined girl who would do anything to reach her goals, even when others doubt her abilities.  She is a very strong girl to continue doing what she loves even with others try to bring her down by saying she does not understand music just because she if deaf.

The conflict in this story is both external and internal.  The external conflict is a man (or girl) vs. man (girl) conflict.  It is when the girl tells her that she cannot play the violin because she is deaf.  The internal conflict is man vs. self.  She has to have faith in herself and not let that little part of her that says she cannot play music take control of her.

The struggle that the girl has is symbolic of all the troubles that humans have.  Everyday, humans are being put down by other people.  The violin is a symbol for success.  The girl that doubts her abilities is a symbol of evil because evil also makes us doubt ourselves.  The protaganist is the deaf girl.  The antagonist is the girl who makes her doubt her abilities.  The irony of the video is that the man tells her that a deaf girl cannot play the violin and yet she is amazing on the violin.  The Climax is when she goes on stage and starts playing the violin in the competition.  The theme is to always believe in yourself no matter what others think.

Below is a video about a girl with cancer.  I think it is similar to the other story because doctors probably told her that she might not survive, but she did.  This is also a video about struggle.

John Gould's Painting of the Lyre Bird

It is really amazing how accurate the lyre bird is with his mimicry.  I was amazed at first by his beautiful voice, and later was amused by its very accurate sounds of the camera, chain saw, and the car alarm.  This would be a really cool bird to have as a pet, but I bet it would get annoying after a while.  It would be interesting to find out all the different sounds it would make when it is encompassed by the sounds of everyday life in the house of the average human.  Just imagine it. The sounds of the  garage door , the television, music, cabinets closing and many more common sounds would be repeated over and over by this spectacular bird.

As for the effects of humans on these precious birds, it cannot be expressed enough how humans are changing the ways of wildlife for the worst.  It is sad to know that in the lyre bird’s natural habitat that it would hear sounds such as a chainsaw.  This means that the trees near his habitat are being cut down and his home is getting smaller.  It is sad to think of all the habitats that are being cut down because humans are using the trees for their own selfish purposes.  Yes, I know we need paper to write on, but people need to recycle more so that we won’t have to cut down so many trees.  The lyre bird is a beautiful creature and its habitat (and the habitats of all other wildlife) needs to be protected.

By the way, this is my new favorite bird.

Here is my video over the word cosmo.

The ideal girl according to media  is tall and very skinny with a beautifully thin face and beautiful hair and do not forget the huge breasts.  The ideal boy according to media is a tall guy with nice abs and a great smile.  This image is very hard to accomplish in real life.  Nobody can be the perfect Barbie or Ken like media leads you to believe.  The actors and actresses that you see on T.V. do not even look like what media considers perfect.  They are just enhanced in photoshop or some program like that to make them look gorgeous.

According to media, the perfect life includes lots of money, a hot husband life, a job where you barely have to work but get a huge pay check and a huge house with lots of property.  And do not forget that everybody has to know your name.

Media Media portrayal of self- image causes many people, and not just teens, to be self-concious about how their bodies look.  It can cause drastic effects such as bulimia. The age of  when people start becoming self concious is becoming younger and younger.  The Canadian Women’s Health Network warns that weight control measures are now being taken by girls as young as 5 and 6. It is very sad to believe that girls as young as five and six are worried about how they look.   The effects of media on self-imagebecoming more and more prominent as the years go by.

Below is just a funny video I found on YouTube about self image.

The music of the video is definately something that sets the mood in this video.  It is very eerie and makes the mood suspenceful.  The theme of this video could be never trust a smiling pencil.   Seriously,  the theme could be do not be consumed with material things or they will consume you .  The lesson to be learned is that you should not wish that you have the coolest things in the world.  You should be happy with what you have.

If I had a pencil like that,  I would scream because it is creepy and then I would draw a black hole and shove it into it. Im just kidding.  I am not sure what I would draw because I have everything that I could ever what in this world.  I am happy with things just the way they are.

I only got four people right when I did this assignment.  I learned that it is really hard to figure out people’s races.  Even though they may look like they are a certain race, they really are not the race that you thought they were.  When I did this assignment,  all of the people looked white to me.

It reminded me that you should not judge people because of how they look.  This assignment was really hard for me to do.  When I was looking at the people,  I looked for differences in eyes and skin color.  I still did not have any clue what race they were.  This was really difficult for me.

So I am making my finishing touches on the Summer Reading and I cannot believe that this summer is coming to an end. It just seems like yesterday I was telling my friends that we need to keep in touch with each other over the summer and yet another summer has passed where I have only sent a few emails to my friends and seen them once this summer. (Sorry for the big run on sentence Ms. Roper.)
Anyways, my summer has been a blast even though I haven’t done much. I did have fun going to a surprise party for one of my friends and seeing the shock on her face when she walked into Pizza Hut and saw all of her friends sitting around the tables.  At first I thought that she was angry, but then I realized that she was just really shocked. I think that she liked the present that I got her, so I am very happy.
As for the summer reading books, all of them were at least okay except for A Farewell to Arms. It did not seem to have a good plot and there was a little too much “Do you love me?”s and “Are you sure you love me?”s for my tastes.  Huckleberry Finn was pretty good especially the last half.  The only part that I did not particularly like about Fahrenheit 451 was that they started to rip pages from the bible.  The ending of the book (i.e. the last 20 pages or so) was really good.  As for McTeague, that book was probably my favorite.  I did not really like it at first and some parts were pretty boring.  The book did keep me interested though because the plot kept twisting and it always kept me wondering “What’s going to happen next?”.

So this is my blog entry for now.  I would love to hear what others think about the books.

I love to read fantasy novels. I also love to read Christian fiction (Ted Dekker) and the bible of course. I am going to read The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn first because I think that one will be the least interesting and I want to get it over with. I want to do the most boring first and then move on to my favorites. That way I won’t procrastinate to get all my work finished on time. I want to read a little everyday from the books, but I also know that I have a hard time committing to do things every day. I love to read outside on my porch when it isn’t too hot. I love nature so it is perfect to be outside listening to the birds and to see the occasional rabbit that happens to hop by.

I have now completed assignment one. I posted my first blog and commented on three friends sites. I am so proud of myself. I am finally getting use to this website. (I think…)

It is really cool to have a blog for the class.  We had a blog for my last class, but I never used it much.  I plan to use this one much more often.  I look forward to being able to blog for this class, because it creates a whole new way to look at an English class.