The Book I Chose to Read

The book I am reading is called Ella Enchanted by Gale Carson Levine. It was made into a movie, and once I saw it I said I had to read the book. I have read it before, but I didn't understand it very much, so I'm reading it again. I think it is a very good book so far and I'm looking forward to find out what happens to Ella and the other characters.

The Wave Review

1. “For the rest of your lives….never, ever, allow a group’s will to usurp your individual rights.” --p. 135. What does this quote mean? Explain your interpretation in 2-3 sentences. Then, explain how you might apply this quote in your own life, providing specific examples. (1-2 paragraphs)

I think that this quote realtes to the book The Wave in the way that it is telling you not to go with what every one else is doing all of the time and to do what you think that you should do. I think that it also means do the right thing instead of doing the wrong thing just because everyone else is doing it. I think it means to go your own way and to think as an individual instead of doing what everyone else is doing. It could also mean to think for yourself and don't let other people interfere with what you are going to do.

You can apply this message in your life by not going with the croud all the time. One example is when you're in math class and everyone else in the class has one answer and you have a different one, don't say their answer just because you don't want to be the only one because they could be wrong and you could be right. Another example is when in the book The Wave Laurie Saunders doesn't go with everyone else and agree with The Wave just because that's what everyone else is doing.

2 Analyzing Robert: Analyze Robert as a character, considering his personality traits at the start of the novel and his transformation as he becomes a member of the Wave. How does he change during the book? Why do you think the Wave changed him in that way? Re-read the last page of the book, and then explain what you think his future holds. Will he go back to who he was at the start of the novel? Or do you think the Wave had some positive effects on Robert? What will become of him now that the Wave is over? (1-2 PARAGRAPHS)

At the beggining of the book I think Robert was just tired of being compared to his brother and tired of living because he knew no one liked him and he figured he would just not try anymore. When the wave started, I think he started to realize what he could become and that he could do a lot better. Then I think he felt more normal and like he was a part of something. I think that experiment changed him because it meant that no one was better than anyone else and that he actually had something to do and someone to become in his life.

I think that he will stay how he was during The Wave and I don't think he will go back ot whta he was before The Wave. I think this because I think Mr. Ross will talk to him about how that experiment was good for him and how he can go back to what he was before or he can stay as he is. I think he will also talk to him about how good it felt to aactually make something out of his life and to not go back to what he was before.

3 Read the definition of fascism below. Fascism: a governmental system led by a dictator having complete power, forcibly suppressing opposition and criticism, regimenting all industry, commerce, etc., and emphasizing an aggressive nationalism and often racism.a. What elements of fascism do you see in the Wave?b. What other historical movements can you think of that have elements of fascism? (Sadly, there are many possible examples here.) Find at least one historical example, and explain how it is fascist.

I think that fascism is shown in The Wave because they're all obeying one leader. Another form of it in the book is that they're treating everyone who's not a member poorly and they're not letting anyone out of it or else they'll treat them bad too. A historical event of fascism is when they tortured and killed a lot of the Japanese. That was a form of fascism because just because they were Japanese they would treat them poorly. It's also fascist because the people killing and torturing the Japanese were obeying someone with total power and couldn't get out of it because they were afraid of what would happen if they did, which I think, if The Wave went on longer, would end up that way too.

4. Mob Mentality: Write a paragraph titled: “Avoiding Mob Mentality: A Practical Guide by A Middle Student, for Other Middle School Students.” You are starting to see the power of mob mentality through many different examples in your classes and studies of history this year, and this book provides yet another shocking example of how easy it is to get caught up in a crowd. What are some ways to make sure you YOURSELF don’t become a victim of this horrendous phenomenon? What advice can you give to others that would help them avoid this in every day life?

“Avoiding Mob Mentality: A Practical Guide by A Middle Student, for Other Middle School Students.”

To not become part of mob mentality I think that you should always think for yourself and never let anyone interfere what you are going to do if you know it is right just like Laurie did. I think that you should always believe that what you think you should do is the right thing to do and to not let anyone make you do something just because you're afraid of what everyone will think, do or say. I think the best advice I can give you to not be any part of mob mentality is to not let people interfere with what you think is right and to always do what you think is right. I think that you should also not go with what someone else thinks just because everyone else is and most of all, THINK FOR YOURSELF!

Project Reflection for the FHP

Project Title:
Family History Project
Class: Humanities Dates: September 19 to October 17th
PURPOSE
In this section, explain what you were supposed to learn and what you were supposed to do.
Sentence Starters
The purpose of this project was to learn about…
In order to learn about _________________________, we had to create/perform/ write/etc…
The purpose of the project was to learn about an important time in history. Another purpose for our family history is to get their opinion about the event that your family has been involved in by interviewing them about it. In order to learn about that, we had to find notes and record our sources from where we got the notes, make a historical narrative that includes the information that you found, write a personal narrative that told something about you or your family, and include four pictures or objects that represent your family or that event. We could put all of those things in a binded book or in a scrap book.
WHAT I LEARNED
In this section, tell what information or skills you learned or improved.
Sentence Starters
I learned about…
I explored the concept of …
In this project, I learned how to…. (skills)
In this project I learned about the Vietnam war. I learned that it was never declared a war and that it started when they said that the Vietnamese attacked us in the Gulf of Tonkin, though there were no sings of it. I learned that they had the war because North wanted Vietnam to have a communist government and the South wanted it to have a democrat government. I also learned how to use the binding machine to make my booklet containing the components of the project. I learned that the Vietnam War started in 1964 and ended in 1975. My grandpa was a part of the evacuation of the war which is when the North forced the American out of the country by going into South Vietnam concluding in American armies leaving. I learned how to make a personal narrative and just about my family's history in general.
REFLECTION
In this section, reflect on your experience. Did you like the project? Why or why not? How did you do? What would you do differently next time?
Sentence Starters
I enjoyed this project because…
I feel like I could have done better on this project because…
Next time, I would…
I liked this project because it really told me a lot about the Vietnam War, which before going into the project I knew hardly anything about it. I also enjoyed it because I got to interview a Vietnam War veteran, which sooner or later won't be around anymore. I think I could have done better on this project by putting more effort into the historical narrative because toward the end of the project I grew kind of lazy and didn't have that many people, including me, revise and edit it. Overall I think that I did a pretty good job because I did put a lot of time into it and I am proud of my final product. I think that Ms. Interlandi, my Humanities teacher should definitely do this project next year so that the they can share this great experience (being able to learn interview skills, about history etc.) with us.
ARTIFACTS
You should have at least one artifact from each project on your DP. What document, picture, or link will you have for this project?
I can get a picture of my project and I could probably also bring in my actual Family History Project booklet.

The Wave: OP #5

2. The scentence that stood out to me was: "The auditorium was filled with gasps and exclamations of surprise as the gigantic image of Adolf Hitler appeared on the screen." This scentence stood out to me because I had been trying to think of who their leader could be for a while when I was reading it. It was like a "duh" moment to me when I found out that it was Adolf Hitler. It also gave me a hint of what was going to happen next and it gave me the clearest picture of what was going on out of the entire time I was reading the book.

3. My question is: Did you expect that this ending was going to happen like this before you read it? If not than what did you expect?

ps: sorry there was no #1 there tonight because there wasn't a question on Ms. I's blog. Please tell me if she didn't post it or if I just never found it. Thanks!

The Wave: OP #4

1. I think that Ben feels like he has been attacked by the other teachers and parents. I think he feels that because they keep complaining and blaming it all on him. We all know that he never intended his experiment to go that far. In a way think that how far The Wave has gone is a good thing because it shows them how hard it is to fight for what you want, which is the whole concept, I think, of what the movie that Ben showed them in the beggining of the book.

2. The scentence that stood out to me is: "She pointed out that The Wave had already begun to do more harm than good (even with The Wave, the Gordon High Gladiators had lost to Clarkstown 42 to 6)and warned that unless it was stopped, it woulddo much worse." I chose that scentence because to me this is the part where it showed me that The Wave had really gone too far. It showed me that because the football game was a test to see if The Wave worked, and it didn't.

3. My question: Do you think that The Wave will continue or do you think it will stop? Why and how?

The Wave: OP #3

1. One way that shows that Mr. Ross's experiment is going out of his control is that the kids in his history class are starting to do things without him telling them to do. For example, when he told them to say the pledge and do the salute they chanted the motto a little bit more even though he didn't tell them to. Another way that the experiment is loosing control is that some people, like Laurie and her mom, are starting to doubt it. One other thing is that the kids answers are shorter so, like Ben said, the class probably wouldn't be that good at a written answer test with essays as a multiple choice test.

2.The scentence that stood out to me the most was: "If Robert couldn't function in the school before The Wave, he won't be able to function outside the school where The Wave doesn't exist." This scentence stood out to me because I never thought about The Wave like that before I read this part. As I was reading, I was also trying to figure out what was bad about the experiment just as Laurie was until her mom said this. It really made me think about what could go wrong in this experiment.

3. My question: Do you agree with the class about The Wave, that it's agood thing for everyone, or do you agree with Laurie's mom, that it's not so great for everyone?

The Wave: OP #2

1. I think that David has been the one who has took The Wave into action the most in his life. Another one that has stood out to me was Robbert Billings. It seems as though he has changed a lot since The Wave has started. David has mostly been using it in the football team and Robert has been improving by not falling asleep in class and also by changing his perspective on school and how he wants to live life in general.

2. The scentence that stood out to me was: ""Eat my Wheaties, join The Wave, do my homework." Anything to stop that guy." This scentence stood out to me because it's kind of funny. In a way it shows how badly the team wants to win and for how long they havn't won a game. It also shows how Brian (the person who said the first scentence) doesn't perform his best in school and how he doesn't really like The Wave. This scentence kind of makes me laugh too just because he says he will eat his "Wheaties" just to win, which shows that he doesn't really like them which makes him relative to me and other people because we also don't like certain foods.

3. My question: Do you think Mr. Ross, aka Ben, is pinpointing one student in particular in his class by using The Wave? If so who and why?

Who did their Comment on my Post

Everyone in my group put a comment on my blog about my post for The Wave except for Mikito. Good job and hopefully we can get everyone to post on it next time!