In Q1 our English teacher assigned us to different projects: One was to do a project on the book Nightjohn that relates to the story in some way and the second one was to read a biography on anyone and then make a Glogster to show our understanding of the biography we read.
This is my Nightjohn project that I had done with another classmate. It demonstrated the different views of how the slaves viewed whites as merciless VS how the slave owner viewed the slaves as beneath him.
The next thing on this page is my Glogster that I've done on Jerry Rice one of my all-time favorite NFL Players because of how great it was to watch him play and also the excitement he brought with him to every game.
Besides the two projects we also wrote four 5- paragraph essay and from them I'll post my favorite essay below. My favorite essay was "The Interlopers" because it was the first essay we did and stood out the most to me.
1Q Reflection:
In Quarter 1 we did a lot of things in English but none of it was that hard. The hardest thing to me was the amount of essays we had to do in class besides that I didn't really struggle with anything my teacher gave me. At first I thought the grade my teacher gave me was undeserved and a little petty,but I eventually understood why I got that grade.
2ND Quarter
In Quarter 2, much like the first quarter, we were assigned 3 different assignments which were: A project on the book " The House on Mango Street", A Comedy Animoto, and finally our Rough Draft for our Writing Project on NightJohn.
For my Mango Street project My friend Teri and I did a diary rewrite where we rewrote the last diary entry in the book. I did half of the entry and Teri did her half and in the end we combined it to finish the project.
Next up is my Comedy Animoto which was a movie trailer of The Hitchhikers' Guide to the Galaxy. Below if the video
Finally I have my final project which was a Rough Draft on the book "NightJohn" that I previously did a project on in 1st quarter. The draft is about what I thought the authors universal theme was.
NightJohn Essay
In NightJohn, the author Gary Paulsen uses Characterization, Imagery, and Pathos, to advance his overall theme of knowledge is freedom. Gary Paulsen is best known for his coming of age stories and young adult literature. The basic premise of the book “NightJohn” is about a slave named NightJohn, the titular character in Paulsens’ book, and how goes to different plantations to teach young children how to read and write. His reason for this is to teach people to read, even though he had escaped to the north he knew that this skill would aid them in the future. In the end he had to leave but promised the main character Sarny he would return for her. The point the Gary Paulsen was trying to get across was something that was true for the time period, that “If you had knowledge, you were powerful and free”. “Knowledge is power. Information is liberating. Education is the premise of progress, in every society, in every family.”. These great words were spoken about knowledge in relation to the world and towards African Americans. These words in itself explain why Gary Paulsen made NightJohn. In NightJohn, Gary Paulsen used characterization to create different reactions that were true to the timeline of the book, to show how people were scared to learn because of punishments from Slave Masters like Waller, who tried to keep them from learning and oppressed them. An example of these characterizations is when Sarny practices writing a word that she learned from John, which leads to Waller seeing this and demanding who taught her that. Even though Sarnys’ Mammy didn’t teach her how to write or do anything of that kind of nature, Waller chains her up, whips her, and makes her drag his carriage all day long. This leads to John confessing because he saw what Mammy was going through for something he did and as a result he lost his two middle toes. To me this shows how much Waller and other whites at the time saw knowledge as a threat to them because if slaves learned how to read and write they would become smart, and eventually find a way to overpower them and get out of slavery. Because of this Waller seeked a way to show them that learning was bad so he punished Mammy in front of everyone to get his point across. After John confesses, Waller punishes him too, so that he could make an example out of him and show what will happen if anyone on the plantation learns. Another Characterization is how he develops John after this, instead of John being scared to teach the event actually strengthens his resolve to teach, having him set up a school in a secret location in the woods. At this point you can see that the punishment just makes Sarny and Nightjohn strive to become smart and learn because if they don’t they would be punished their entire lives and an education is the only real way to free themselves from this. However this is not the only way he expresses his overall theme. Gary Paulsen also uses imagery in NightJohn to paint pictures in the reader's head to show what is going on and also show the violence that happened because of certain events. An example is in the scenario that plays out when Mammy finds out that NightJohn is teaching Sarny how to read, but then a little bit reluctantly lets Sarny to continue her lessons and education. This situation paints a picture of how angry mammy is because she knows what happens to slaves so her anger is just caused, but we can also feel see how angry she is through the words she uses like saying “They’ll whip you till your skin hangs like torn rags. Or cut your thumb off.” Just these words make unpleasant pictures come together in your mind and you truly feel bad and also disgusted at what the slaves go through and also what slave masters do to them. Another example which has been mentioned earlier is the scene where NightJohn is punished for teaching Sarny how to read and he gets two toes chopped off. While a little before this we are thinking about how hard it must be for Mammy, we are then forced to think about the pain John must be in which is cringe worthy to think about. But this setback still motivates him to team more people just to fulfill his dream, creating a hope in you that wishes he accomplishes his dream. With this set of imagery Gary Paulsen also has an affect on our emotions which leads into the next section of literary devices. Lastly Gary Paulsen uses Pathos, an appeal to a reader's emotion, to stir emotions in the readers and have them sympathize for NightJohn and Sarny. Using the examples from above you have when NightJohn got his toes cut off and later builds a school in the woods to continue his dreams of teaching. These string of events first has the reader angry at Waller because of the harsh punishment he gave John, but then it turns to sadness because of the punishment John has gone through which leads him to run away and tell Sarny he’ll be back eventually. After all this has happened you wonder if John will continue his dreams and then suddenly he return giving the reader excitement that he lived up to his promise and is now running a school. With that ending the readers are left with hope that John will continue teaching Sarny and the other slaves and that eventually one day that knowledge will lead them to freedom and out of slavery. Besides Gary Paulsen ultimately filling the readers with hope in the end, he does find a way to create anger within you from the very start of the story. Early in the story we get glimpses about the certain people who live on the plantation with the slave owner Waller. Throughout the story we learn how they see the slaves calling them words like “ Pig droppings and horse crap”. These choice words can make you already hate these people for the way they mistreat and verbally abuse the slaves. All these examples and more show how with certain words and actions in the story can make a reader feel different emotions in relations to how the author wants to make you feel. Gary Paulsen is great at using Pathos in his stories to help convey his message, which in this story is the universal theme of “Knowledge is Power and it’s worth fighting for. In conclusion Gary Paulsen’s use of Characterization, Imagery, and Pathos throughout “NightJohn” has helped him convey his universal theme of Knowledge is Freedom because with knowledge you can accomplish anything you set your mind to with the case in “NightJohn” being freedom from slavery and equality. This theme can be applied to many things like the book “The House on Mango Street” where the main character uses what she learned on Mango Street and eventually leaves with knowledge to help her be what she wants to be in life. Another example of this theme could apply to yourself or anyone in general. With knowledge you make yourself stronger mentally, so when applying that knowledge to other things you overcome them and can find yourself where you wanted to be in life. Lastly the greatest example of this was the civil rights movement in the long past where African Americans used education and action to rise above many thing like segregation, racism, and other things to gain equality in America.
2Q Reflection:
2nd Quarter was actually fun in this class and I managed to get a lot of work done. All of my work was on time, I learned many things especially about how to write better essays and finally I ended the quarter with an A in English 10 honors.
All in all 2nd quarter in this class was pretty calm and because I turned work in on time I had a chance to relax a bit. I hope that the last semester is as calm as this quarter and I learn a lot. I also think I'm going to like it because we are starting the semester off with poetry, which I excel in writing.
