Ms. J. Peterson's Student Blog

Wednesday, September 7, 2022

Welcome to Ms. J. Peterson's Class Blogging 2023!

Dear Students and Families,

I am so excited to welcome you to my 2023 classroom blogging initiative! Student blogging has an important role in our classroom because each student will function as a "scribe" and be responsible for group learning.

We have had great success with posting blogs from 2019 to the present, and look forward to seeing that success continue for many more years.

GOALS:

To become effective global communicators.
To have every voice speak with the same volume.
To summarize and reflect upon each day's lesson.
To become responsible digital citizens.
To become creators of information.

Technical Requirements of the Blog

One student per class, per class will be responsible for blogging. Blogs will usually be checked within 7 days of posting (provided scheduling permits). (For example: Blogger #2, John Doe is in Period 5. If on September 17th it is his turn to blog, during class, his blog is due the same day, by September 17th - the night before the NEXT class].
Additionally, All blogs MUST be submitted to the assigned Blog Master no later than 9 pm of your due date; to ensure they have proper time for posting. All blogs MUST be posted by the Blog Masters no later than 11 pm that night, to ensure proper timely submissions occur.
Title of the blog at the top of the new post should include the following information, in the following order:

Student's Assigned Blogger #, Student's full name, class period, date.

(For example: Blogger #2, John Doe, Period 5, 9/17/20).

Please use the date assigned, NOT date due.
Blog Masters take NOTE: Please make sure that the Blogger information (example: Blogger #2, John Doe, Period 5, 9/17/20) only appears in the title, and not the body of the post; to avoid redundancy. Therefore, this information should appear only 1 time.

Blog Masters MUST LABEL their blog with either: “Freshman Lit 2022” or “Sophomores 2022”.
Students are responsible for keeping track of when it is their time to blog by keeping track on the Blogger Sheet, which can be found via the Peterson Fresh or Sophomore Syllabus, via hyperlink.
Students are to comment and respond to one another, including asking questions or asking for clarification.
Blogs will be published on the world wide web, so we must practice digital citizenship and remember that our audience is GLOBAL, so our tone is FORMAL.

How to make sure your blog is formatted correctly?

Create your blog using Google Docs and use the Share Feature to provide your document to the assigned Blog master. This usually creates the easiest method for posting a blog that is formatted the way you wanted it.
If you're experiencing formatting issues, which can occur when capturing pictures and such from the internet, the best way to correct the formatting issues is to avoid copying and pasting the information from the document, until you have used the Clear Formatting button on the task blogger bar (it's the last icon on the right. This feature is solely accessible for Blog Masters).
NOTE: Please recognize that the Blog Master's job is solely to post what you provide, and not to edit what you submit in any way.

When Do I Blog?

Please refer to the Google Sheets Blog Date List.

Sample of Excellent Blogs

Sample of Excellent Blogs (They had different requirements)

What does your blog grade mean?

MASTERY (MAX): Great work, you nailed it! You covered an amazing multimedia summary of the day's lesson (Multimedia is a form of communication that combines different content forms such as text, audio, images, animations, or video into a single interactive presentation, in contrast to traditional mass media which featured little to no interaction from users, such as printed material or audio recordings) of what happened in class using a clear, easy-to-read format. Most importantly, you absolutely included fantastic reflection which clearly draws connections to what you learned with real-life applications.
APPROACHING (APP): Your summary got the general gist of what happened in class, but could definitely use some elaboration and perhaps provided some multimedia, OR your formatting is not aesthetic (ex. meaning it's running off the page) OR your reflection may be basic (such as just reflecting on how it can be applied in your schooling instead of the real world).
DEVELOPING (DEV): You probably didn’t include a reflective aspect at all let alone multimedia or limited multimedia was included, or your summary was so minimal it was hard to have any idea what happened in class.
NOT YET (NY): Incredibly basic/incomplete and/or the tone was rude, offensive, or inappropriate for a school, public blog.
M: No blog written on your assignment day.

Blog Revisions and Reflections

Blogs will receive a grade within approximately 7 days of publication based on the guidelines above.
Blogs may be revised, edited, and updated if the student would like an opportunity to improve his/her grade, however, they MUST do so within 7 days of receiving their blog grade.
All revised blogs must be resubmitted to the original Blog Master who posted the blog, so they can swap the revision for the previously-published blog.
IF the student does opt for a revision, he/she MUST EMAIL ME, via by responding to the original PupilPath message that was sent, coupled with a direct link to the NEWLY UPDATED ORIGINAL published blog (after the Blog master has published the revision) to inform and notify me to check the blog again.

Saturday, January 29, 2022

Blogger #18, Bridget Meier, Period 5, 10/27/21

Aim: How does a close-reading of Lord of the Flies demonstrate the power that naming has in society?

Do Now:

At the beginning of today’s lesson we discussed the backgrounds behind our names, and the significance or meaning of our names. Surprisingly, only a few students were able to associate or identify with the meanings behind their names, however most did not and do not believe it reflects on their personality. Angela shared that her name means “angel” or a messenger of god, but does not associate with that name, and does not believe that her personality is reflected in her name. Rory shared that they were named after Aurora in Sleeping Beauty, however strongly dissociates with the name and believes that their character is more reflected in the name Rory! I personally believe that my name and personality are deeply correlated, as my name means “vigor and virtue” and I am a fairly headstrong person. This discussion was a very good segway into the lesson, and although our views about our names were fairly different, writers often use naming to give insight into their characters and the story, which we get into later in the lesson.

Pair-share into Whole Group Discussion

Next, we discussed how naming was present in the “Lord of the Flies”, specifically by discussing the titles of chapters in the book. Some ideas brought up were that the chapters give some insight into what we are about to read, foreshadow the events of the chapter, and provide symbolism. My group discussed that in the last few chapters, darker symbolism showed that there will be an unhappy ending, foreshadowing the conclusion of this book. Towards the last chapters, the words “darkness” “death” and “cry” present these sadder dark themes, while the beginning of the book appears to be less dark and more innocent, leading us to discover that naming of chapters does indeed have a very large purpose and importance in our reading!

Titles of Chapters

The Sound of the Shell
Fire of the Mountain
Huts on the Beach
Painted Faces and Long Hair
Beast from Water
Beast from Air
Shadows and Tall Trees
Gift for the Darkness
A View to a Death
The Shell and the Glasses
Castle Rock
Cry of the Hunters

Close-Reading (Page 11)

Afterward, we read a section out of Chapter 1 “The Sound of the Shell” describing an interaction between the characters known as “Piggy” and “Ralph”. Then discussed the significance of “Piggy’s” name with our group and how this name could affect him. We concluded that the character “Piggy” is described as a “little fat boy” and the name piggy would be associated with pigs and is often an insult towards someone’s body type. This name with a very strong negative connotation could lead this character to be cast out from society, ridiculed and bullied, as well as compared and treated like a pig. The naming of Piggy’s character sets up a conflict for his character, which is demonstrated in Ralph’s reaction to his name. Ralph is a depiction of how society would react and ridicule someone with such a nickname. Additionally, this reaction from Ralph sets up his character to be a rather childish character with a lack of maturity and emotional awareness/empathy.

Finally, we wrapped up the lesson with a character analysis, discussing each character’s direct and indirect characterization. Each student was supposed to submit an individual response describing either Ralph’s, Jack’s or Piggy’s character. The students were supposed to submit a brief response touching upon both direct and indirect characterization and evidence from the text to support these claims.

Let's start off with Ralph. Ralph’s direct characterization was of his physical appearance, the author directly describing him as being “the boy with fair hair”, and “…taken off his school sweater and trailed it from one hand, his grey shirt stuck to him and his hair plastered to his forehead.” Indirect characterization of Ralph is developed through his actions, through how he appears immature and insensitive to the reader through his complete abandonment of Piggy’s trust, and the bullying he subjects him to, not realizing the harmful consequences his actions have on Piggy.

Next, Jack’s is described with direct characterization and indirect characterization as well. He is described as “tall, thin, and bony” and his face was “crumpled and freckled, and ugly without silliness”. This gives a direct depiction of his somewhat unattractive physical appearance, however Jack is also depicted as a bully through his incredibly cruel words and actions, specifically towards Piggy. Additionally, Jack is portrayed as arrogant, rude, and bloodthirsty. He is angered when he is not able to kill, and has an innate desire for power, which is developed through his attempt to become chief through a display of arrogance.

And finally, as mentioned before, Piggy, described with very negative connotations, is depicted as unintelligent, not attractive, and rather unimpressive. The lack of a name for this character, as he’s just referred to as “Piggy” shows how he is viewed by his peers as unimportant and not worthy of a name. Some examples of direct characterization are the author’s direct description of “Piggy” as a “fat boy” while Ralph is portrayed as a“fair boy” and the use of the word “Piggy”, comparing him to a rather disgusting animal. However his words give away his intelligence and maturity. Rather than acting without haste and thought, he attempts to be organized and thinks through his actions. Instead of just wanting to have fun he immediately creates plans for survival, which shows his maturity above his peers. Although he is portrayed as unintelligent and unimpressive, and is given many physical incapabilities, he is developed to be way above his peers in terms of his maturity level.

Reflection: In today's lesson I learned about how naming has an impact in many areas of our life and in literature. As we started off the lesson I began to reflect upon what significance my name had on me, and my classmates on them. Then as we transitioned into our reading and responses later in the class I began to realize just how important naming has in many aspects of literature. Naming of a character in literature often has a great impact on how the character is portrayed and perceived. The indirect characterization of a name can often tell a great deal about what the author intends for you to believe about this character. Naming chapters in a book can also help identify what the significance of the chapter is and provide details to the events of the chapter, the impact of them, and the importance of what the chapter is named as. The naming of Piggy’s character in Lord of the Flies helps portray him as almost like an animal, rather unintelligent, unfit, and helps the reader perceive him as somewhat below the other characters in terms of physical and mental capabilities. Piggy’s character is quite obviously being compared to a “pig”, and Ralph’s reaction to this name shows how this name is almost laughable and something that Piggy would get bullied for, however the indirect characterization throughout the chapter shows how this name specifically reflects/represents Piggy’s own personality. This lesson helped me understand just how important character’s names are, and how the author directly and indirectly characterizes them, and I will make sure to keep in mind these ideas while reading “The Lord of the Flies” and many other books in the future.

Monday, January 24, 2022

Blogger #26, Antonio Ramirez, Pd.2, 12/22/21, Freshman Lit 2022 Blogger #26, Antonio Ramirez, Pd.2, 12/22/21, Freshman Lit 2022

Blogger #26, Antonio Ramirez, Pd.2, 12/22/21, Freshman Lit 2022

Aim: How can an in-depth rhetorical analysis and evaluation of Brutus’s speech provide insight on multiple levels (POV, Roman PPL, etc…)?

Do Now: Team Discussion: How can you tell when someone has given a powerful, persuasive speech? What attributes might be included?

Today our class discussed how you know you gave a powerful speech. We talked about receiving reactions and emotions from your audience such as crying or cheering. Some aspects of a powerful speech is repetition. Repeating certain phrases helps give emphasis and adds power to your words. In addition, having a powerful tone and voice creates assertiveness in your speech. Other points made by my classmates were using ethos and logos in your speeches. Ms. Peterson also gave great examples of powerful speeches such as MLK and JFK’s speeches.

Martin Luther King Speech: https://youtu.be/fR-PReWhMGM

JFK Speech: https://youtu.be/P1PbQlVMp98

Sources From Class:

BRUTUS’ SPEECH [2 PAGES]

Brutus’ Speech [4:57]

12.2 JC: Brutus' Funeral Oration Analysis

After watching Brutus’ speech adressing the murder of Caesar, we were asked to analyze what he just saw. My group agreed that Brutus had an assertive tone as he believes he has done the right thing and is now proving it to the people of Rome. We also conversed over the fact that the crowd seemed restless and skeptical of Brutus at the beginning of speech, but towards the end they calmed down as if they started to

agree with what he had to say. As a class, it was mentioned that Brutus used prose when delivering his speech to keep everything natural. Ms. Peterson pointed out the word authentic when describing his speech. Brutus’ rhetorical questions were also brought up. One of them we identified was when Brutus asked, “Who is here so base that would be a bondman? If any speak, for him have I offended. Who is here so rude that would not be a Roman? If any, speak for him, have I offended. Who is here so vile that will not love his country?”. Brutus asked this expecting a consensus no from the crowd.

Reflection:

Today I learned about the aspects of a powerful speech. We discussed the outcome of a powerful speech, which was the crowd showing emotion. We discussed what a powerful speech consists of; repetition, powerful tone, and ethos and logos. We also analyzed powerful speeches. We were able to determine the strategies Brutus used in delivering his speech, as well as the crowd’s thoughts slowly shifting throughout it. I believe I learned this because being able to know how to create a powerful speech is an important skill throughout life. It helps reflect your thoughts while persuading and motivating others. It can influence other people’s thoughts and opinions. Finally, I will use what I learned today whenever I public speak moving forward. When public speaking, you always want to voice your opinion while influencing others. That is exactly what a powerful speech does. The more I can understand and analyze powerful speech, the better my public speaking skills will be in the future.

Thursday, January 20, 2022

Blogger #33- Aaron Yu- Period 2- 1/20/22

Aim: How does Cassius and Brutus’s conflict establish foreshadowing for the denouement of Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar?

Do Now:

I can infer that based on Brutus and his conflict with Antony, he will eventually have to fight Antony, be it politically or physically. Antony and Brutus are essentially political rivals, at some point, they will fight in order to see who’s the cause will win and the eventual fate of Rome.
I do not think he will emerge as a confident leader, Brutus is too easily manipulated, it only took a senator to turn Brutus against his best friend and brutally murder him. People in power and close to Brutus’s inner circle may manipulate him for their own personal gain. This is extremely detrimental to his decision-making.
Like previously stated, Brutus is too easily manipulated, furthermore given that Brutus brutally murdered his best friend and desecrated his body, it goes to show how easily Brutus can be turned on his closest friend.

Denouement: The final part of the play where the climax descends and all previous plotlines come together and conclude.

Julius Caesar Act IV, Scene 2 Julius Caesar—Act IV, scene ii [2 pgs]

Cassius treats Lucillius with no obvious hostility, but also with no friendliness, instead he treats him like they are mere acquaintances.
Cassius treats Brutus as they are somewhat hostile, immediately accusing Brutus has betrayed him while Brutus remains polite and asks how he has betrayed him. Brutus claims that he would never betray a brother in arms which ironically, is exactly what he did to Caesar. Overall, their conversation is terse and rather hostile on one side which implies that their relationship has deteriorated over the past events.

“Most noble brother, you have done me wrong. Judge me, you gods! wrong I mine enemies? And, if not so, how should I wrong a brother?” (Lines 40-42). This quote shows how Brutus and Cassius greet each other, Cassius’s tone is hostile, immediately accusing Brutus of betraying him, Brutus remains courteous, claiming that he only wrongs his enemies, not his friends. This quote is ironic because Brutus claims to have never wronged his friends, even though he betrayed Caesar, one of his closest friends, even going as far as literally backstabbing him. Overall, this quote implies that their relationship has deteriorated since the events after Caesar’s death.

3. Brutus essentially says that true friendship is built over genuine trust, even if said friendship fades away, but the nature of the friendship is still genuine. Brutus says that false friendship is built through empty promises and will eventually be found out.

Brutus essentially says that friendship built out of genuine trust will remain forever, while friendship built over false promises will eventually be found out and justice will be served.
Hollow men mean people with false promises or people who promise or swear to something but never actually follow through with it or renege on the promise.

4. Brutus wants to preserve the public relationship between him and Cassius, saying that their armies are watching and they shouldn’t quarrel so openly lest their armies lose faith in them. Going indoors is traditionally more private and typically more uninterrupted rather than going outside and having your conversation publicly where anyone can hear you.

Julius Caesar: Act IV, Scene 3 Julius Caesar—Act IV, scene ii [3.5 pgs]

Cassius accuses Brutus of betraying him, as he had one of their soldiers arrested because they took a bribe even though Cassius told Brutus not to.

Brutus in turn also accuses Cassius of betraying him, accusing him of being greedy, arguing that if they are not to repeat the mistakes of Caesar, they should not follow in his footsteps.
Overall, Brutus has the better argument, he points out that if they are not to repeat the footsteps of Caesar and in turn, his fate, they should not be corrupt and earn merit through honest means. Brutus points out that he has done nothing ignoble to earn his money and when he asked Cassius to loan him some, he refused. Brutus interprets Cassius’s wealth and alleged corruption as a gateway to sharing the same fate as Caesar.
This scene differs from most rhetorical speeches in the play as this is not a debate or oration, this is a fight, two people fighting against each other accusing each other of the same thing. The fight does not utilize persuasive language, it is a simple argument using logos and accusations.

2. Brutus is concerned because if this corruption continues to exist, they would have another Caesar and eventually suffer the same fate. Brutus says he would rather die than become as corrupt as Caesar.

3. Brutus says that he has never done anything ignoble and strives to do so, he says he would never become corrupt, which is why he has so little money compared to Cassius (This is a passive-aggressive comment against Cassius, which implies that Cassius is corrupt).

Brutus is a selfless and honest person, at one point he says that he did not murder Caesar for himself, but for the love of Rome, and Brutus still abides by those morals. For example, Brutus is willing to die should he cross these morals even once, “When Marcus Brutus grows so covetous, To lock such rascal counters from his friends, Be ready, gods, with all your thunderbolts; Dash him to pieces!”. Basically, Brutus says that if he were ever to be corrupt and covetous as Cassius and Caesar were now, he would have the gods dash him into pieces.

4. For context, Cassius accuses Brutus of not being with him, saying that now that all his friends and family turned their back on him, he has nothing to live for, he calls for Octavius, Antony, and Brutus to kill him and take revenge for Caesar.

Whole-Class Discussion:

At first, Cassius argues that it is better for the enemy to seek them, he advises that Brutus should play a game of attrition, waiting for the enemy to waste away and attack at the right moment. Brutus says that they have the advantage in numbers, if they launch a surprise attack, they can catch the enemy off guard and make a decisive blow against their enemy, they can also not afford for the enemy to build up their armies, as a result, Cassius agrees.
Portia killed herself because she is devoted to Brutus. The play mentions that Portia is Brutus’s closest confidant, meaning she keeps Brutus’s secrets, now that Antony and Octavius hold most of the power, they might try and find Portia to obtain Brutus’s secrets and to turn the people against him. Because of this, Portia kills herself to take her and Brutus’s secrets to the grave.
This scene sets up the finale of the play, as Brutus and Cassius march towards Phillipi, Antony and Octavius prepare for battle, and one side must stand out victorious. This scene also shows how devoted Brutus is to his cause, although he is grieving on the inside, he must remain strong for his men and lead.

Reflection:

Today, we learned the definition of denouement, the events that lead to the finale, and the closing of several plotlines. This is important because the denouement is one of the most important parts of the story, it closes several plotlines and sets up several events that lead to the finale, leading to the catharsis of the story. I can use what I learned to truly understand the events of the finale and the lesson of the story.

Friday, January 14, 2022

Blogger #31- Angelina Weng- Period 2- 1/14/22

Aim: How does Cassius and Brutus’ conflict establish foreshadowing for the dénouement of Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar?

At the beginning of the class, we continued to discuss the questions we ended off with yesterday. I thought Antony is the one that has the most power, out of Octavius (heir of Julius Caesar) and Lepidus. Our classmate thought Lepidus is like the third wheel that has the least power and seems like he doesn’t have any true decision-making power. Our classmate stated that when Antony say Lepidus was a “horse” and “ass he was thinking Lepidus should be like a property and do all the hard work like being the “ass” and he wanted Lepidus to be controlled by him so say he is also the “horse”. Secondly, Octavius is younger than Antony so he must have less power in him which results in Antony having the most power out of them. Besides that Antony thought Lepidus' brother should die because he was one of the conspirators and Antony wanted to keep himself clean.

But the class found out the most ironic thing was Antony also wanted Caesar's will and money for himself and wanted to reduce what everyone got in the will. Which made his whole speech very ironic and fake because he was making a speech about Caesar giving so much to the people and he’s going to give all the will to the citizens. From the above students can tell Antony doesn’t seem to be as obedient as we thought in the beginning, but instead, he became two-faced and very ambitious when he had the power. This becomes the most obvious in Julius Caesar—Act IV, scene i lines 32-50 where we considered being the turning point of Antony when he is saying that he doesn’t want Brutus and Cassius to have too much power so he won’t have the chance of ending up like Caesar being killed by the conspirator. In this scene, students notice Antony’s selfishness and know that he wouldn’t be a good emperor like Julius Caesar. After Octavius heard Antony’s response above Octavius doesn’t seem to be on the bad side where Antony is and this is symbolic because he still listens and follows what Antony said. A classmate concluded from this that Octavius isn’t as power-hungry as Antony, but Antony is extremely ambitious even though he may seem to be very simple and obedient at the beginning, we saw a different side of him from this conversation. Overall, from Julius Caesar—Act IV, scene i, students discussed the character trait that Antony demonstrates in this scene is much different than what we have thought of before, especially after he had the power that he never had before.

"What is Symbolism?": A Literary Guide for English Teachers and Students - YouTube

This enrichment will show a furthermore detailed explanation of Symbolism in literature.

WHOLE CLASS DISCUSSION:

In this scene we see a different side of Antony. What things does he say that appear out of character with the simple and honest man he appeared to be in the previous act?

My classmate and I both thought it was ironic that Antony told people to go against the conspirator but he is kind of a conspirator himself to his teammate, for example, he agrees that his nephew should die and Lepidus should be used to do hard work. Furthermore, he wanted to reduce what everyone will get from Caesar’s will so that he could have more. From the decision that Antony made he doesn’t appear to be as simple and honest like what he appeared to be in the previous act

Do Now: WHOLE CLASS DISCUSSION

Consider Brutus

Predict the role he will play in the conflict with Antony as we move toward the conclusion of the play.
Do you feel he will emerge a confident leader?
Do you feel he will still be swayed by the opinions of others? Etc…

The class thinks Brutus is gullible and can be swayed again since he was easily swayed by Cassius before. We also thought Brutus could be a confident leader, a classmate can see him as a good leader based on the good conversational skill that he used during his speech and as we know from the beginning Brutus decided to be a conspirator out of his love and care for the people in Rome.

Dénouement: The final part of a play, movie, or narrative in which the strands of the plot are drawn together and matters are explained or resolved.

The class determined that the act and scene that we are focusing on now was towards the Dénouement of the play, the scene that will lead to the final solution. Below is a link for more detailed information on Dénouement.

dénouement - YouTube

We later started to read Julius Caesar—Act IV, scene ii

15 JC: IV, ii & iii [Pt 1] - Google Docs

05 - Act 4 Scene 2.mp3 - Google Drive

The class didn’t finish the questions for Julius Caesar–Act IV, scene ii yet but the questions will be done and further discussed tomorrow in class.

Reflection:

In today’s lesson, I learned Dénouement was a series of events that would happen before the final resolution of a play. Now we are on Dénouement going to the end, I know this because the climax is when Julius Caesar was assassinated and the event that is happening now is after the assassination. From today’s lesson, I also learned and found out that Antony isn’t as simple as we have thought of before. After he has real power in his hand he becomes ambitious and two-faced, before, he shows full obedience to Caesar but now he’s trying to disobey him and reduce what everyone will get from Caesar’s will and to take some of it for himself. I believe we learned Dénouement so in the future, we can determine it and use it to understand the context of the literature more. We saw this in Julius Caesar’s play and I believe it will appear more often in the future. The discussion that we made today would let me have a better understanding of the play. I can use the information we learned today when I’m reading literature and will be able to know which part of the literature I’m on so I can have a better connection of it to the entire plot. In the future, I can also use what I learned today to create a better plot diagram. In conclusion, I learned Dénouement and we are reading the Dénouement of Julius Caesar play now and in this part of the play, the unknown side of selfish Antony was revealed to the reader.